I Got This: To Gold and Beyond

by Laurie Hernandez

New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestseller!

Gold medal-winning Olympic gymnast and Dancing with the Stars champion Laurie Hernandez shares her story in her own words in this debut book for fans of all ages—with never-before-seen photos!

At sixteen years old, Laurie Hernandez has already made many of her dreams come true—and yet it’s only the beginning for this highly accomplished athlete. A Latina Jersey girl, Laurie saw her life take a dramatic turn last summer when she was chosen to be a part of the 2016 US Olympic gymnastics team. After winning gold in Rio as part of the Final Five, Laurie also earned an individual silver medal for her performance on the balance beam. Nicknamed “the Human Emoji” for her wide-eyed and animated expressions, Laurie continued to dance her way into everyone’s hearts while competing on the hit reality TV show Dancing with the Stars, where she was the youngest-ever winner of the Mirrorball Trophy.

Poignant and funny, Laurie’s story is about growing up with the dream of becoming an Olympian and what it took to win gold. She talks about her loving family, her rigorous training, her intense sacrifices, and her amazing triumphs. Be prepared to fall in love with and be mesmerized by America’s newest sweetheart all over again.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Middle Grade, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

231 pages, Hardcover

First published January 24, 2017

Reviews

[paige (ptsungirl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You can always change your circumstances in life if you put your mind to it."

°•*⁀➷

Laurie is so special to me. I've been a huge gymnastics fan for what feels like all my life, and I watched every moment she talked about in her book happen right in front of my eyes. I watched her grow up and become an absolute star. And I've never felt such second-hand pride in my life. She's got one of the biggest personalities in the world and she really felt like a little sister to me.

There are so many things I related to about gymnastics. Holding in everything we feel, perfection, the need to push through even when we shouldn't. The pain of not being on the floor or rooting on your teammates on the sidelines. Gymnastics is a very singular sport with the mind games you play with yourself constantly, but it's also such a team sport. Without the backing of the people around you, there's no way to be great. Laurie touches on that so beautifully, and to hear her experiences with people she looks up to becoming her teammates and competing beside them. To hear her talk about the moment Aly came off the floor with tears in her eyes when she knew she clenched gold. It sounds exactly like something I've said a thousand times since 2016.

I loved hearing more about her friendship with Simone, and especially her friendship with Val. Watching her come into herself on Dancing With the Stars has got to be one of the most special things I've ever watched. Especially because I truly watched her grow up. The first time I saw Laurie Hernandez, she was a vibrant, shiny, spectacular presence wowing everyone in the gymnastics world.

Now, she's stepped into advertising. Found herself in ways I'm still trying to. And living a life with an optimism I strive to have. I can't wait to see what she does next. I hope she continues to spread her shine with us all.

I absolutely teared up while writing this. There's just something about feeling seen in someone's words. Especially when you know it all happened, because you watched it.

- Paige

[Kireja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laurie's personality definitely comes through in her book; there was a lot of warmth, bubbliness, positivity and enthusiasm in her storytelling. I enjoyed reading about her experiences at Rio and on DWTS. Overall, a quick and fun read.

[Aryssa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably the worst "gymnast memoir" I've read from the USA gymnasts. Vapid, poorly written, and she didn't even narrate the audiobook. "I was sooo scared" "They were sooo tall." "I had to trust myself." Nothing really interesting at all, but at least it was chronological...

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A possible theme for this book is if you can dream it, you can do it! When Laurie was young, she saw a gymnast on TV and wanted to do it. Later, she met the requirements to be a gymnast, and she really wanted to go. Laurie really wanted to win a medal, and she ended up winning a gold medal!

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Once I started this book, it became clear that it was geared towards children, which I suppose makes sense when the author is 16. That said, after really liking Simone Biles' memoir earlier this year, comparatively, Laurie Hernandez' book was really bad. Like there were 15 pages at the end that were literally blank pages where she says to "write your story". Now, I understand that even an Olympian who is only a teenager may not be able to fill a whopping 240 pages with life story, but beyond that, there were sections that were barely about her life at all. And could this girl really live in so much of a bubble that she never thought about the fact that she was one of the first Latina gymnasts America has ever had representing the country? Yes, she lived there in that bubble. Someone had to instruct her to look it up. Sigh. I wanted to like this book. I live watching Laurie Hernandez perform and think she seems like a great kid, but this book is painful to read if you're older than 12. Just the one star.

[Faith M:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loovveee this book! Got it for Christmas and am so glad I did:) I 100% LOVE the Olympics and Laurie Hernandez is my most FAVORITE gymnast!!! I felt like I was having a personal chat with Laurie while reading this book😁😁😁

I was practically glowing while reading about the Olympic village❤️❤️❤️ and her experiences with the Final Five, as well as Dancing with the stars and her travels around the globe.

I will be reading this TONS.

Laurie- You’ve got this!!!!!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I’m interested in other cultures than the WASP culture, of which I am a member, I picked up this book hoping to get insight into how a young woman from the United States with a name like Hernandez came to win gold at the Olympics. The thrust of this book was the personal journey of Laurie Hernandez, which I enjoyed greatly. She said just enough about her family, though, that I was able to learn what I wanted.

I learned that her family is from Puerto Rico. This isn’t in the book, but I read that both sets of grandparents were from PR. I assume both her parents were born in the US. Since both parents speak Spanish fluently, I assume Spanish was spoken in their homes. Laurie doesn’t speak Spanish, so apparently English was spoken in her childhood home. The book says that Laurie’s mother had a rough childhood living in New York City. When she married she wanted her children to grow up in a better environment, so she and her husband moved to a pleasant city in New Jersey.

My big question was: how does someone from another culture “make it” in the US? 1) The parents made sure the children learned English. 2) They made sure their children’s environment and surroundings were as “good” as possible, and 3) The parents had wonderful values about family, being “good” people, doing your best, getting a good education and supporting each other. This last one was made clear over and over in the book. Laurie would tell the reader about things her parents would say to her, how they guided her, what advice they would give, etc. The Hernandez children were exceptionally lucky!

Aside from my burning question, this book is charming and geared toward inspiring young people to do achieve their goals. It is written for young adults, or even younger people. It is very readable.

Personally, I had one issue with the book. Laurie says that to achieve your goals, all you have to do is dream big and work hard. I am proof that it’s not that easy. Nobody wanted to go to the Olympics as a swimmer more than me. Nobody worked harder than me, yet I never even made it to state championships, much less national championships, much less the Olympics!!!

[Patricia Franco rodriguez · Rating 2 out of 5]

ESte libro lo podria haber escrito yo, es una sucesión de hechos que cualquier aficionado a la gimnasia sabe, no entra en el fondo, ni mira más allá y tiene un halo de todo es guay y happy que chirria, a ver si alguna vez encuentro una bio de gimnasia más honesta, seguiré buscando

[Sofie Hook · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another one of those fabulous autobiography of olympic gymnasts! I've always loved Laurie and it's crazy how young she is for how amazing she is!

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is hard to rate. I just felt that it lacked a lot of depth. It felt very surface level. This is one where I wish she would have waited a couple years to write this and release it.

[Fern A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Laurie Hernandez is an Olympic gymnast and has been on Dancing with the Stars in the USA, this is her autobiography. I think it’s important to set out that she was about 16 when she wrote this and it definitely is quite cliched in a teenagery way. However her personality really shines through the writing and it is an inspiring, upbeat quick read. I would have preferred however if it had a bit more detail and a bit more depth. Probably best suited to children looking for inspiring role models in sports.

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I liked hearing her stories about the fun things they did and things you would have never known happened without reading this book. I also thought it was cool to see things from her point of view. I liked to see what happened behind the scenes.

[Rosemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Laurie Hernandez and was so delighted to find this book. She is from Old Bridge, NJ, a town that I know very well because my parents lived there for many years. So, I cheered for her all through the Olympics and later on Dancing with the Stars.

I've been a fan of gymnastics for years as well and was excited to read some behind the scenes stuff about the sport. Laurie explains the process of how you move up in the sport - something that I had always wondered about. She writes just like she seems on TV: friendly, fun and very down to earth. She's extremely positive and very encouraging to young girls to follow their dreams.

I got this book at Barnes & Noble and was very happy to see that it was a signed copy. Had I known she was appearing in the store I would have tried to meet her as well. What I love about the book itself is that it comes with a small poster of Laurie in action. At first, I didn't know where the poster was, but it's on the inside of the book jacket! What a very creative use of space that is otherwise wasted! I'm hoping this will start a trend and we will find other books that put a surprise of some kind on the inside of the jacket. :)

Definitely get this book if you are a fan of Laurie's and/or gymnastics. It never occurred to me to look for books by other gymnasts before but I see that several of them have books out there and I have already added them to my To Read list. I truly wish Laurie all the best and hope that we will be seeing more of her in the future.

[Hannah (FreeInFiction) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So I finished this book in one sitting and I LOVED IT. Laurie's personality was so prominent throughout the pages, which made the read all the more fantastic. She is so bubbly, positive, and just all around amazing! Laurie inspired me so much throughout her story and is definitely a role model to so many boys and girls all over the world. After reading this, I feel so empowered to get out and do something! Follow my dreams, pursue what I love, and be humble.

Also, I did not realize how young she actually was! She is two days away from being a year older than me exactly and I cannot believe it. I'll be right back, I just gotta go work my butt off! Seriously, I loved reading about her story and thank you, Laurie, for putting yourself out there and following your dreams! I read this exactly when I needed it :)

[Sheri S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a juvenile biography, I thought this was a great book with an encouraging message for young readers. Hernandez praises the value of hard work, setting goals and maintaining positive relationships with friends and family. She writes about her gymnastics journey (culminating with her time in the Olympics and then traveling the country on a gymnastics tour) and time on the show, Dancing with the Stars. She also talks about her Puerto Rican heritage and encourages girls from a Latin American background to become involved in gymnastics. Laurie Hernandez is a great role model for young girls!

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

“You win whenever you commit to something, because you can’t experience growth without even trying.”

I’m glad I got to read this book. As any girl growing up in the 90s I enjoyed gymnastics. However as I got older I stopped following. This group of athletes were obviously amazing at what they do (hi gold medals). It was interesting reading from an insiders perspective.

There were definitely times I had no idea what was being discussed. However the overall emotions and outcome resonated with me. Easy read but worthwhile for certain.

[Riley Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was right after Laurie had her big knee surgery when she started stretching and lightly conditioning, I thought that it really went along with the theme of the book which is if you don't work for something, you will never reach your goals. Laurie's big goal was to go the the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and that's what she did, but she did it with 11 long years of training, in the gym most of the day, 6 days a week, and being homeschooled.

[Jennifer Thompson-Thalasinos · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the moment I saw Laurie Hernandez in last year's Olympics I immediately thought of Mary Lou Retton. Not only does Laurie have a bubbly personality, she also has a deep faith. This book is about how she became an Olympic gold medalist and all the challenges in between. Recommended for all Laurie fans, including the younger fans. This book is written at a level for younger children as well.

[Michele · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't realize when I picked this up it was for young readers. All she did was praise people she has said in interviews mentally and physically abused her. You could have written an encouraging book for young readers without lying about coaches who she stated put her in a depression she is still in.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and recommend it to anyone who loves sports and gymnastics(or anyone in general). I love how she told her journey of gymnastics, and that she achieved her goals the Olympics and Dancing with the stars. In general this is an amazing book!

[Courtney Umlauf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid memoir by gymnast Laurie Hernandez that's sure to please any young reader already obsessed the sport.

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[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable. Not to preachy or trying to send messages to the reader. Filled with lots of personality. Loved it.

[Christine Heng · Rating 5 out of 5]

We absolutely loved this book. Perfect to read to my kid and she was able to help read some of it too. It was just as fun to read as Laurie is to watch.

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The take away from I Got This is "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!"
Henry David Thoreau
Includes "possibility pages", Laurie's Official Records and Glossary of Gymnastics Terms.

[Maren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book was really good. It was positive and exciting, and it showed how you can overcome anything.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read like a pre-teen’s diary instead of an actual memoir. The writing was immature, lacked focus and was badly structured.

[Magda Golinska]

I recognise that I wasn’t really the intended audience for this (this is definitely targeted towards a younger audience) so I won’t be rating this.

This book is basically like a recollection of everything that has happened to Laurie, very surface level we don’t really dive deep into her struggles.
And I don’t know if she really is like that in real life and doesn’t really dwell on things that much or if it was more of a stylistic choice, but every hurdle she is up against is put in a positive light. Which is amazing for her if that really is how she feels, and probably a bit nicer to read for kids.

This definitely promotes pushing yourself and trying to achieve your goals which is cute tho I wish it explored more of the journey Laurie had to go through and more of her struggles as a gymnast - her injuries were spoken about very lightly as if they were only a tiny blip in time when in reality they probably lasted months.

[Cshlib_underground · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nonfiction novel about an Olympian named Lauren Hernandez. Although that is her name on her birth credit she has many other nicknames such as Laurie or even the Human Emoji. She gets that name from how she expresses herself during her floor routine. As you read this book you follow her journeys as a gymnast and even her experience on Dancing with the Stars.

My favorite part of this book was reading about how Lauren Hernandez became an amazing olympian and friends to her fellow team mates. Since this book was so good I definitely don't have a least favorite part of this book.

- Sofia, Grade 7

[Alexa]

Previewing books for J's 8th grade year. I think she'll be able to relate to this upbeat pep talk of a book from a Latina gymnast who also enjoyed dancing... and got into character by imagining herself taking the first bite of a delicious quesadilla.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

This is such a quick and fun read! I really enjoyed learning more about Laurie’s life and who she is as a person. However, she did write this book when she was quite young and it shows in the narrative. But overall, a fun time!